Discs

As with the Beatles and Beach Boys classic recordings, Love's answer to Sgt. Pepper and Pet Sounds, Forever Changes, gets the full micro-analytical reissue treatment. Extra demos and tracking-session recordings have been added, along with accompanying notes designed to broaden our understanding of Arthur Lee's creative process.

It's an informative study, but uncovering the secrets behind Forever Changes -- whose appeal has a lot to do with Lee's impenetrably oblique lyrics -- inevitably errodes some of the album's essential mystique. Take away the mystery and you're left with just another brooding baroque-pop period piece.